EXPLORE THE WORLD OF METRICS
The tension between sales and sustainability means that marketers need to think about new ways to track their progress that go beyond traditional brand and sales funnel KPIs.
One reason why measuring the impact of sustainability and corporate purpose is difficult is that they straddle so many different parts of the business.
“Everything is measured in silos,” says Paul Twivy, founding partner of Purpose Done Right. “Companies have employee engagement surveys, investor stakeholder reports, brand trackers and so on. But none of these things are looked at holistically.”
MANY COMPANIES ARE AT AN EARLY STAGE OF IMPLEMENTING ROBUST SHORT- AND LONG-TERM KPIS
With many companies setting long-term targets for net zero, it is important for marketing to also have KPIs that focus on the near term.
“At Allianz, we truly believe that to achieve long-term goals it's all about short-term targets,” says Carolyn Rich, Head of Brand Marketing and Social Responsibility at Allianz. “So while we say that we'll be net zero in all our business operations by 2030, our focus is actually on 2025 and the reduction targets that we have every year between now and then.”
A broader set of brand metrics is important, says Tracy Waxman, head of brand and marketing communication at Zurich Insurance: “It’s not just about whether you would consider Zurich. We also evaluate brand attributes, using statements like, ‘this is a brand I trust’, ‘offers good value for money,’ ‘provides good service’. And one of the metrics we’ve put in is ‘cares for people and the planet’.”
“If marketing has the same old ideological interpretation that the duty of the board is to just maximise short-term shareholder value creation, then their campaigns are going to reflect a fairly short-term orientation as well.”
Robert G Eccles Visiting professor of management practice, Saïd Business School
THE RISE OF SUSTAINABILITY IS ALSO PROMPTING A RETHINK OF HOW COMPANIES ASSESS AND TRACK REPUTATION
Professor Ioannis Ioannou, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School, says there are now two dimensions to reputation: capability reputation, which is the company’s ability to deliver quality products and services, and character reputation, which is all about trustworthiness and whether a company can meet environmental or social expectations. “What we increasingly see is that the two types of reputations work at the same time to drive the purchasing decision,” he says.
of marketers see sustainability as “a general goal” rather than something that needs specific metrics. 8
Footnotes: 8. WARC Marketer’s Toolkit 2022: Global Trends Report